The Future
by pommedeplume
Summary: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black wake up in the year 2014 where it turns out they are characters from something called Harry Potter and people have been writing something called fanfiction about them. After a chance meeting with one such author they are forced to consider the very nature of their own existence. Happy Birthday picascribit!
1. Chapter 1 - Is This What You Wanted

_And is this what you wanted  
>To live in a house that is haunted By the ghost of you and me?<em>  
>"Is This What You Wanted" by Leonard Cohen<p>

There was something about having Remus Lupin's cock in his arse that made Sirius Black feel whole. Not just whole but complete. An empty space inside of him was stretched and filled and bringing him unspeakable pleasure. At least that was how he saw, especially in the moment.

At this moment, Remus's hands were on the small of Sirius's back as Sirius was bent all the way over, his face pressed against a pillow as Remus's thick cock pounded deep into his arse.

Sirius was frantically stroking himself. He'd already had a couple of wanks earlier and now his prick felt a little sore and he was nearly rubbing it raw in his desperation to come again. He could feel the wait wouldn't be long at all and as he felt Remus's hands pressing down harder and his cock moving faster he knew it wouldn't be long for him either.

Finally, he felt pleasure surge through him and his prick clenched and he moaned loudly. There was a nearly unbearable moment of tension before his come shot out of his short, curved shaft in several hard and quick bursts, drenching the sheets and his fingers.

From behind, Remus shuddered, his thrusts becoming erratic but no less hard. Remus gasped and Sirius felt his cock pulsing inside of him, filling his arse with his hot come.

Moments later they both collapsed onto the bed and on their backs; both of them were breathing hard and drenched in sweat. Beneath him, Sirius could feel the bedsheets that were once again covered in wet spots from their spunk.

"Do you think Kreacher tires of cleaning up after us, Moony?" Sirius asked and rolled over, his back facing Remus.

"Anyone would tire of cleaning up after us. Though, I suppose we could be polite and take care of it ourselves," Remus answered then shifted his body and put an arm on Sirius's side.

Sirius made a noncommittal grunt. He had no intention of giving the house elf a break.

For awhile, Sirius was comfortable just like this, here with his Moony, who had quickly fallen asleep. After so many years of endless nights in Azkaban he cherished every night they were able to spend together now. But how long would it last he wondered? What if they didn't win the war? What if… What if Harry suffered the same fate as James and Lily? And Moony… What if he…

He shook his head. He mustn't think things like that. Too much time in Azkaban had trained his mind to think painful thoughts at night.

"Are you OK, Padfoot?" Remus whispered in Sirius's ear.

"I'm not sure. Just worried about the war," Sirius said.

"Oh," Remus said softly then pulled Sirius's hair out of his face and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Don't. Whatever will come will come. We have to put our trust in Dumbledore."

"Yes, and he's put his trust in Snivellus. Snivellus, Moony!" Sirius said.

"If Dumbledore trusts Snape then we should as well," Remus replied. Sirius scoffed.

"Moony… do you remember how we used to talk about adopting? If the war… if we do win…" Sirius said but trailed off, to afraid to finish the sentence.

"Yes," Remus answered. "Of course. I admit there are very large hurdles in the way of our dream of having a few pups of our own. But if there's a way we'll find it. I swear."

Sirius exhaled and felt a warm sense of calm come over him and he pushed his back into Remus, just wanting to be closer. As he drifted off the sleep he thought that he would settle for the war being over and knowing that Harry was happy and that he still had Moony with him. If he could just have those things he would be happy.

* * *

><p>Remus woke up with a start. He was suddenly aware of several things: he was wet, a little cold, and face down on the ground. He wondered how he even ended up outside? It wasn't time for a full moon yet. He was always very careful to watch. The week before the full moon it was hard for anything else to occupy space in his mind. No, this was definitely something else.<p>

Slowly, he pulled himself up and noticed Sirius was lying face down next to him.

"Padfoot!" Remus said, and nudged Sirius with an arm.

"Hmm?" Sirius said and slowly blinked his eyes open. "What in Slytherin's arse?" Sirius asked then pulled himself up as well.

"I don't know. We must be somewhere in London but…," Remus started then looked around at their immediate surroundings.

The walls on either side of them were covered in many coloured globs of… gum? And there were Muggles all over the place taking pictures of it. Many were taking pictures of themselves standing in front of it. And their clothes… They weren't dressed like the Muggles he was used to seeing in London.

"What is this place?" Remus said quietly.

"The gum wall!" a small Muggle child called out, startling Remus.

Remus quickly ran out of of the dark hall and out into the light, if you could call it that. It was grey and misty and there were Muggles everywhere. A second later Sirius was by his side and looking around, clearly as astonished as he was.

"Where in London are we?" Sirius said. Remus looked to his left at the wall that led down to the gum wall. It was lined with small posters and graffiti. Above it he could see bicycle tires. He walked closer to the posters and tried to absorb as much text as he could. Remus sighed as a realization hit him.

"We're not in, London, Padfoot. We're not in England. We're not even in bloody Europe!" Remus said.

Sirius walked over to the posters while Remus stood back and watched, waiting for his lover to come to the same conclusion he just had. At last Sirius shouted, "Seattle! Washington! This is…"

"America," Remus finished quietly, his hands in his pockets. "Did you notice anything else about the posters? Look at the dates."

"Godric's balls!" he shouted, causing a few of the Muggles to glance at him. Strangely, no one was paying much attention to either of them. For a moment, Remus had thought they were invisible but apparently he was wrong.

"2014! This is 2014! Are you sure the Muggles in America don't number the years wrong?" Sirius said, sounding very distressed.

"What? No, of course not," Remus said. He was trying to act calm because Merlin knew one of them needed to be. But he had to admit he was more than just a little bit nervous right now. Just what in the hell was going on here?

"Moony… the war! Harry! We have to get back to England!" Sirius said, turning back to Remus and walking up to him with his best sad puppy face.

"_If_ this is even real," Remus said. "I'm not so sure. Is it easier to believe we are in Seattle, Washington in the year 2014 or to believe that we're under a spell of some sort to make us believe we are?"

"Damn, Voldemort! He must've found a way into Grimmauld Place! Oh, Merlin what has he done?" Sirius said and pulled out his wand.

"Not in front of the Muggles," Remus said pushing Sirius's hand down. "If Voldemort has found a way into your family home that means…"

Remus sighed and continued, hanging his head, "That means Dumbledore is dead and we have a traitor in our midst."

"Snape!" Sirius growled.

"Yes, that does seem the most likely conclusion," Remus admitted.

"If Snivellus harms so much as a hair on Harry's head I swear I'll end him!" Sirius said and Remus could see how hard he was clenching his wand.

"If this is a spell we should figure out how to bring a stop to it," Remus said then motioned for Sirius to follow him as he walked further up the path. They appeared to be next to a Muggle market. Big red letters above said 'Public Market Center'.

"This is Pike Place Market. I'm not that familiar with it but I have heard of it," Remus said.

Remus looked around and considered their environment. If this was an illusion it was a damned good one.

Everything about this felt real. The Muggles were all talking amongst themselves and only seemed casually aware of them. He could smell a strong smell of fish wafting from the market where lots of people were packed in. Even the rain felt genuine.

"I suppose we should at least try to apparate away from here. It may take us some time to get back to England from here. I don't have any other leads on a way to break this spell," Remus said.

Remus put out his arm for Sirius who grabbed it firmly. He then tried to focus on a destination. He tried to picture a map of the United States as best he could. What states were nearby? Oregon was close but in the wrong direction. He thought Idaho and Montana were close.

He decided to focus on Montana, though he realized he had never been there he had no way of creating a full picture in his mind. He vaguely created an image of mountains and horses and hoped it would be enough.

Nothing happened.

"Are you going to do it, Moony?" Sirius said, sounding impatient.

"I've just tried. It won't work. It… doesn't even feel like I'm trying," Remus said.

"Maybe you just don't know America well enough?" Sirius said.

"No. We'd still go somewhere. And I would feel something. But… Padfoot, I can't believe I'm saying this, I can't feel magic. At all. It's… like… there's no magic," Remus said.

"What has Voldemort done to us? What kind of spell is this?" Sirius said through gritted teeth.

Remus suddenly became aware of a person standing behind them watching them and slowly turned around to look at them. She was average height with short dark hair and hazel eyes. Something about her reminded him of James.

"Don't mind me," she said, a big smile on her face. "I'm just watching."

Remus felt the blood drain from his face. Who was this person? She was dressed like a Muggle. She wore a simple combination of shirt and trousers and looked very unassuming.

Remus stiffened. His hand slowly reached into pocket and pulled out his wand. He then walked closer to her.

"Who are you?" Remus said, his voice grave but not threatening.

"Me? I'm…" she stopped, seeming to consider something then said,"Pica."

"I'm guessing you know who we are already, so I'll skip introductions and instead demand you tell us what you know of our current situation," Remus said.

"Huh?" she said and crinkled her face a little. "You're Wolfstar cosplayers. You're street performing right? Pretty cool. I'm a hardcore Wolfstar shipper, actually. You both look exactly like I picture you looking during the second war, during Order of the Phoenix."

Remus shuddered at mention of the war and an unusual reference to the Order. Seconds later realisation seemed to hit her face and she lifted up the sleeve of her shirt on her right arm, revealing a tattoo.

"I got a tattoo!" she said excited and Remus and Sirius moved in close to inspect. Remus was stunned by what he saw. How could this person possibly have a tattoo of _that_!

"Moony, it's…" Sirius started.

"From the map," Remus finished, feeling light-headed and confused.

The tattoo resembled images from the Marauder's Map. Specifically an image Remus and Sirius had never seen themselves but Remus suspected that James or Peter might have seen it had they ever taken the time to look at it at the right moment. There were black shoe prints that faced each other with two scraps of paper floating nearby with the initials RL and SB on them.

"It's us having a shag," Sirius said, sounding as confused as Remus felt.

"Yup," she said then let her sleeve go.

"I don't understand," Remus said.

"Aww, I'm sorry. You guys are taking this really seriously. I'll just get out of your way. Nice meeting you!" she said and started to walk away.

"No! Wait," Remus said and she turned around, looking worried. "What did you say your name was?"

"Pica. I go by Pica Scribit online. If you've read any Wolfstar fic you might've heard of some of my stuff. A Cure for Nightmares, Highland Fling, TransFigured, or A Conspiracy of Cartographers?"

Remus had no clue how to respond to what she just said. It must be Muggle references of some sort.

"What is Wolfstar?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, that's the ship name for Remus and Sirius. I don't like it, actually, but it's really popular. I'm sort of shocked that you don't know it since you're cosplaying as them," she said, smiling again.

Whatever manner of dark magic was going on here, this person wasn't a part of it. She seemed unaware, unassuming, straight-forward and friendly.

"Someone built us a ship?" Sirius said and she laughed, bending over slightly and clasping her hands together. Remus smiled, surprising himself. No, that was definitely a genuine reaction.

She leaned up quickly, her burst of laughter finished, and said, "I can't tell if you're just messing with me or if you really don't know what shipping is."

"We really don't. Enlighten us, please," Remus said, trying to sound friendly though he was shaking.

"Shipping means you want the characters to get together. Lots of people ship Remus and Sirius," Pica said, her smile never fading.

"We _are_ together," Sirius said then grabbed Remus hand and squeezed tightly. Pica's smile widened at this. Remus glared at Sirius. Dramatic, as always, Remus thought.

"We are lovers," Remus admitted. "Are you implying there are people who… _want_ us to be lovers?"

"Yup," she said.

"How do they know who we are and why would they care what goes on in our personal lives?" Remus said, feeling increasingly like he was in a dream.

"They read the books and feel like you should be," she said.

"The books?" Sirius sounding more curious than confused.

"Harry Potter!" she said and laughed.

Sirius let go of Remus's hand and stepped towards her, seeming anxious.

"My godson! Tell me, what do you know of him? Is he alive?" Sirius said.

Pica looked baffled. She didn't say anything for a moment. Remus thought she was likely deciding what she should say next.

Finally, she spoke, "Yeah. He's alive. He married Ginny Weasley. They have kids!"

Sirius laughed then grabbed Remus and hugged him.

"Did you hear that Moony! Harry is alive!" Sirius said. Remus held Sirius tight, rubbing his hands on Sirius's back. He couldn't bear to remind him that this might all be an illusion. But Remus was beginning to suspect this was all too real.

"Tell me, Pica," Remus said from over Sirius's shoulder, "How old do we look?"

"I don't know. Remus and Sirius would've been in their mid-thirties during the second war," Pica said.

"We are in our mid-thirties," Remus said, more to himself than to her.

"That's perfect then," she said. "Well, I'm going to go, now. I'm just here to buy some tea at MarketSpice." Whatever excitement she had must be wearing off, Remus thought as she began to walk away.

"Wait!" Remus said and she stopped and turned around, again. "Is there a way we can reach you?"

"Just Google Pica Scribit. You can probably find my tumblr pretty easily," she said and waved goodbye with a small smile and walked toward the crowd of Muggles in the market.

"Are you just going to let her go, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"We don't have any choice," Remus said.

They stood in silence as Pica slowly disappeared into the market.

"What's a Google?" Sirius asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea. But I have decided something," Remus said.

"Yes?" Sirius said.

"This isn't a spell. This is real. We are in the year 2014. This is the city of Seattle, Washington in the United States of America and magic does not exist," Remus said.

Remus watched as Sirius's already pale face became paler.

"I don't understand. Did Harry somehow kill Voldemort and destroy magic? And how did we end up eighteen years in the fucking future?," Sirius said sounding lost.

"I don't think we are in the future. I think, and I don't even know why but I do, that this is the present. Somehow we've ended up in an alternate universe. One where…" Remus said but struggling to finish.

"One where what, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"One where we don't exist. We are characters in a story. A popular one at that, apparently," Remus said.

"How?" Sirius said, his face worried.

"I don't know. But I have a sudden urge to go see if we can find copies of 'Harry Potter', don't you?"


	2. Chapter 2 - Tonight Will Be Fine

_But I know from your eyes_  
>and I know from your smile<br>that tonight will be fine,  
>will be fine, will be fine, will be fine<br>for a while.  
>"Tonight Will Be Fine" by Leonard Cohen<p>

They hadn't been sure what to do or where to go next. Remus's suggestion of reading the Harry Potter books meant nothing if they couldn't actually find them.

Neither of them even had the slightest clue how to get around Seattle. And why were there so many coffee shops? Sirius was certain they were actually spacing them out in a way where you could see one 'Starbucks' just barely in view of the next. These Muggles must really enjoy coffee, he thought. He wondered where he could go for tea.

Not that they had any Muggle money. And if they'd had any Muggle money it wouldn't have been American currency anyhow. They were really truly and properly fucked. Sirius wondered how Remus was keeping his cool. It did help him to relax somewhat, knowing that Remus had it together.

One thing Sirius had learned during their couple of hours wandering around the streets of downtown Seattle was that no one paid that much attention to them. He supposed a couple of gay wizards fit in just fine here.

After some small amount of wandering they found a small used bookstore. Finding copies of the books wasn't difficult at all. There appeared to be seven of them. The one titled Order of the Phoenix interested them most, especially since Pica had mentioned them looking like they had come from that book.

Though Sirius had stopped to look at Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Part of him bristled with pride at having a book whose title, he had realised, referred to him.

"What are we supposed to do, Moony? We can't sit here and just read all of these in the bookstore. The shop keeper will throw us out!" Sirius said.

"We could look for a library," Remus said then continued in a whisper, "Or you could just slip one or two of them in your coat. The pockets are large enough to hold some of these paperback copies,."

"Which two?" Sirius asked.

"Better make it the last three: Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows," Remus said then quickly handed Sirius copies of each which he took and slipped them in his coat as covertly as he could.

"Are we really going to steal from these Muggles?" Sirius asked as he adjusted the books in his pockets, noticing something else was inside them, preventing them from fitting.

"I don't see that we have much choice, Padfoot," Remus said regretfully. "We have no other leads or any money."

Sirius grabbed hold of the item blocking the books, pulled it out slowly and held it up in front of his face to examine it.

"Merlin's prick! This is Muggle money," Sirius said in excitement.

Remus's eyes widened.

"So it is," Remus said and grabbed it from Sirius, flicking a finger through the bills that were held together by a rubber band. "I'm not sure what sort of value these have. But they all say 100. Must be a thousand of them, at least."

But Sirius wasn't done reaching inside his pockets. Quickly, he found two more bundles of cash, just like that one and pulled them out for Remus to see. Remus grabbed them quickly, fire behind his eyes.

"Someone is looking out for us, Padfoot," Remus said.

"Guess we'll just grab all the books then," Sirius said and pulled the three books out of his pockets, while Remus grabbed the rest. Moments later they were at the book counter, plopping hardcover copies of all the books down. The shop keeper looked slightly stunned.

"Wow. That's some great cosplay, guys. I'm surprised you guys would even need copies of the books!" the man said while he rang them up. Sirius watched in bafflement as the man used strange Muggle equipment to do so.

"That comes to $65.98," the shop keeper said.

Remus handed the man one of the slips of green tinted paper that were labeled '100' and had the face of some no doubt important Muggle on them. The shop keeper took it and then moments later handed them change which Remus stuffed into a pocket. While his hand was inside he made an astonished face but then pulled his hand back out and tried to act like nothing had happened.

The shop keeper put all the books into a large bag and Remus quickly grabbed the bag and left the shop in a hurry, forcing Sirius to follow.

As they walked down the sidewalk Remus looked all around, searching for something. Finally, they came upon an alley which he then gestured for Sirius to follow him down. Once it was clear no one was watching them he reached into his pocket and pulled out its contents.

"I wasn't sure what all this was but I didn't want to pull it out in front of the Muggles just in case," Remus said and handed the items to Sirius. While Sirius stared down in confusion at the items Remus dug in his other trouser pocket and pulled out more.

In Sirius's hands were a small rectangular square with a picture of his face on it along with his name, birthday, height, hair color and eye color. There was another card made of paper that had a long number and his name on it that said _Social Security_ in big letters on the top of it.

There was another document that said _Certification of Birth_ on it and had all of the correct details of his birth including the names of his parents. He was speechless.

"Do you realize what all this is, Padfoot?" Remus asked.

"Not really, no," Sirius admitted.

"These documents… they prove who we are. We exist! In this world. These are things Muggles use for identification. I don't know why or how we have them or the money but clearly someone really likes us and wants us to do OK," Remus said, brimming with excitement.

"But how? This doesn't make sense. And we aren't Americans!" Sirius said.

"It appears we are now. Don't worry, I'm sure immigration to England isn't that difficult. But for now…" Remus said then took a deep breath and exhaled, "For now we can do whatever we want."

Sirius stared at Remus. His honey-brown hair was messy and damp as was his old brown jumper. They were both a bit of a mess, if Sirius was being honest. It had already been a long strange day. But right now looking at Remus so happy, happier than perhaps he had ever seen him he had the most peculiar urge to let Remus fuck him right then and there.

"All these things," Sirius said a smile curling his lip, "They could buy us some privacy, couldn't they?"

Remus smiled, "I would certainly hope so."

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken Remus long to find a hotel room. There were hotels all over in the place in downtown Seattle, it turned out. The little cards with their pictures on them and some of the Muggle money was all it took to get a room. Remus could get used to this new life easily, he thought.<p>

Remus hadn't admitted the real thing that had him excited, euphoric and horny. The thing that was making him feel more alive than he had ever felt, despite the loss of magic and the bizarre revelation his mind couldn't possibly grasp, at least not yet.

As he dragged Sirius into the room and tossed him onto the bed he wondered when it would occur to him as well. His trousers felt tight as his cock pressed hard against them. He was so giddy he struggled to even remember what was supposed to happen next.

Luckily, Sirius remembered for him and fell to his knees in front of Remus. He brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and began to unbutton Remus's trousers with a familiar look of hunger on his face.

Sirius's fingers moved more precisely and delicately than they had in a long time, unzipping Remus's trousers with ease and sliding his pants down a little. His fingers gripped Remus's thick cock and lightly stroked it, his foreskin gliding back and forth.

Remus felt like his heart was going to explode from his chest as Sirius slid the foreskin all the way back then gripped the base of his cock with both hands then put his lips on the head and lightly sucked the down the head, his lips gliding across the ridge then pulling back up again, making Remus gasp. Sirius's lifted Remus's prick up then slowly licked up the shaft, flicking his tongue against the head, making Remus quiver.

Sirius looked up at Remus and gave him a smile that said, 'Are you ready, Moony?' to which Remus silently answered with a smile of his own and a nod. Sirius put his mouth back on the head then began to suck up and down Remus's shaft, smooth and hard, his mouth gliding with ease.

"Fuck, Padfoot," Remus said, looking down in shock. If there was anything Sirius was good at besides being a prick it was sucking a prick. But somehow this was different. No, not different… it was old.

This wasn't Sirius as he had been this last few years; this was Sirius as he was in the early days of the war, eager to please without the under current of desperation. Remus had missed this man. As Sirius looked up at him with his beautiful grey eyes, his mouth working his cock with glee, Remus wondered if Sirius had missed the man he once was too.

Remus could feel the tension rising in his body, a pleasurable urgency creeping through him, centered on his cock. He could feel his balls tightening against his body, aching and feeling slightly heavy. It hadn't even been that long since he'd last come the night before but he felt like he hadn't come in years. He was giddy and nervous.

Finally the tension became too much and he felt his muscles clench and pleasure crashed in a mighty wave through him.

"Ahhhh, fuck!" Remus said as he felt his cock spam and shoot hot fluid into Sirius's mouth. Sirius didn't stop sucking at all and he made sure he didn't miss a drop.

Breathing deeply as Sirius continued to lick and kiss at his cock, though it was feeling sensitive, Remus rubbed at his eyes, realizing he had been crying.

Sirius finally let go of Remus's cock and looked up, smiling like the loyal dog that he was, certainly expecting a much deserved reward.

"I'll need a moment, Padfoot," Remus said. No matter how he felt right now he was no longer a young man, and the stress of all his years of transformations had a taken a great toll on all of his body.

Suddenly, something obvious occurred to Remus, causing his jaw to drop. He then shook his head and laughed.

"We don't have any lubricating potion. How am I supposed to fuck your beautiful arse without any bloody lubricating potion?" Remus said, smiling down at Sirius.

"I don't care about that right now," Sirius said then pulled himself off his knees and his mouth quickly found Remus's. His lips were warm, soft and a little swollen and moved over Remus's lips with ease. Remus could feel Sirius's own stiffness rubbing against his belly through a damp spot in his trousers.

Remus noticed it had become dark outside and pulled his mouth away from Sirius's. Without explanation he walked to the back window of the hotel room and looked out and up at the sky. He looked up at the moon and laughed.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

"Come see for yourself," Remus said and pointed.

Remus stepped aside to make sure Sirius had a good view. Sirius looked up and to Remus's surprise looked horrified.

"Moony, we have to do something! It's a full moon!" Sirius said, sounding desperate.

"And here I stand, unchanged," Remus said, opening his arms wide then letting them fall back to his sides. "There's no magic here. None at all. I'm not a werewolf anymore," Remus said.


	3. Chapter 3 - Memories

_So won't you let me see_  
><em>I said "won't you let me see"<em>  
><em>I said "won't you let me see<em>  
><em>Your naked body?"<em>  
>"Memories" by Leonard Cohen<p>

Sirius awoke the following morning smelling of olives. No, it wasn't just him. It was everything. He remembered now. Things had got messy after Remus's revelation. Sirius had resolved quickly to go find something that could replace lubricating potion, preferably without leaving the hotel.

By chance he ran into a young couple who wondered why he looked so distressed. He wasn't sure what possessed him to make such an admission but he just burst right out with, "I'm looking for lube!"

"I'm not sure where you could buy any this late," one of the women said.

"You could just grab some olive oil," the other woman said, causing the other woman to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I've heard that works well. I bet you could get some at the hotel restaurant," the first woman said.

"Thanks!" Sirius said.

"Have fun doing the touchy touch!" the second woman said as he dashed towards the what he had learned earlier that day was called an elevator. Merlin, Muggles were strange, he thought.

They had been right, though. The olive oil wasn't that difficult to obtain. Actually, he basically begged them to let him buy an entire bottle. He wasn't sure if the price they had asked was fair or not but he didn't really care. He had rushed back up to the room to find Moony lounging back on the bed, naked, his cock stiff and proud.

"Oh, Moony!" Sirius said.

"Welcome back, Padfoot. What's that?" Remus said and pointed at the bottle in Sirius's hand.

"Oh. It's olive oil," Sirius admitted.

"Okay. Whatever works, I suppose," Remus said.

Sirius had then pulled his clothes off as fast as he could, feeling like a young pup eager for his bone. He jumped on the bed only for Remus to roll himself on top of him, rubbing his cock against Sirius's and kissing his mouth, deep and hard.

Remus had then kissed his way down Sirius's neck and torso until he arrived at his cock. Whatever Sirius had given Remus earlier, Remus paid back in full. Well, almost in full. Just as Sirius was about to come Remus tugged on his balls and wrapped his fingers hard around the base, letting him get to the edge of orgasm but no further, not yet.

At this point they considered the olive oil silently before they finally decided to to try it out. In the end it wasn't that much different than using lubricating potion. It wasn't as good but it did smell better. And once Remus was inside of him nothing really mattered.

Sirius looked around at the bedsheets, now well illuminated by the morning sun. He wasn't sure which spots were come and which were olive oil.

Sirius slid out of bed to go take a piss when suddenly Remus called out in his sleep, "No!"

"Moony!" Sirius said and was quickly back at his lover's side, rubbing his bare back with a hand.

"P-Padfoot?" Remus said, sounding scared and disoriented.

"I'm here, Moony," Sirius said reassuringly. Remus turned over and clung to Sirius desperately.

"I'll never be free," Remus said, his body shaking. "No, I didn't change last night. But the nightmares… Merlin, the nightmares." Sirius stroked Remus's hair then bent over and kissed the top of his head.

"It's okay. I will be here for you just like you've been there for me," Sirius said. He didn't say it but he knew Remus knew he was talking about his nightmares of Azkaban and awful fucking Dementors. So many nights waking up in a panicked sweat fearing he was still there, that the last two years had been a cruel fucking illusion.

For awhile, Sirius stayed there and comforted Remus. Remus declined to discuss the details of his dream. That was fine. It was his right.

Eventually, Remus opted to get up and get dressed and Sirius finally went to the bathroom, his bladder feeling far too full.

Once he was out he found Remus laying on the bed holding one of the Harry Potter books in his hands.

"I suppose we better get to it then, haven't we?" Remus said.

Sirius shrugged and nodded. He then climbed in bed next to Remus.

"Read to me, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, Padfoot," Remus said.

Getting through the first couple of books hadn't been a big deal, though it took them all day. By the time Harry had killed the Basilisk and destroyed Tom Riddle's diary Sirius was barely conscious.

It was a surreal and slightly disconcerting experience. Everything felt a little off. It didn't feel like reality as they had known it. And yet everything was so true. He thought the author really captured the personalities of people like Hagrid or Dumbledore very well. Nothing was, strictly speaking, wrong. But it did feel like a story. In fact, it seemed as if it had been written for children. Who the hell would write a story like this for children?

But then he remembered some of the stories he'd read as a child and thought better of it. Wizarding books for children could be quite scary now that he thought about it. But as he drifted to sleep he had a small moment of panic. What if the only reason those stories were scary was because this person, JK Rowling, had created them that way?

* * *

><p>After they had managed the first two Harry Potter books in a single day Remus was disappointed they had only got through the third on the second day. It was entitled Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was a far less comfortable book than the first two to read as he and Sirius actually featured in it prominently.<p>

He had to admit though: these books were good. The third one in particular was exceptional. Sirius seemed far more bothered than he was, however. Understandable, Remus thought.

Whether, JK Rowling had written about them because they existed in another universe and somehow her mind was some sort of window into their universe or they existed purely in her imagination and had somehow been willed into existence they had to face the fact that there were forces at work in their lives that were far beyond comprehension.

No, there was _one_ thing was really getting under Remus's skin and he wondered if it bothered Sirius too.

"So did you notice, in this book," Remus said holding up Prisoner of Azkaban, "That she doesn't even once reference our romantic relationship?"

Sirius jerked his head and stared at Remus.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius said. "You're right! I mean, it's obvious though isn't it? Surely, anyone could see it! I mean she didn't lie, really… she just… left things out!"

"Maybe she will be more explicit in the next few books," Remus said.

The fourth book took them a couple of days to get through. It was longer, darker and more intense than the prior books. There were no references to their relationships but he supposed that was fine. The whole story was being told from Harry's point of view and he couldn't possibly know what he and Sirius were busy doing in private.

The fifth book was a trickier matter. After all, this was delving into the future. A future that they now would likely never live. Would they disappear in the actual book? What if they didn't? What would that mean?

With great courage they read the fifth book over a couple of days. The fact that their relationship was never directly referenced was the least of their worries.

"She fucking killed me!" Sirius screamed. "Fuck, JK Rowling!"

"Relax, Padfoot," Remus said, though tears were in his eyes. His Padfoot, dead? He couldn't bear the thought.

"Why would she do that? What bloody purpose does it serve?" Sirius said.

"I don't know," Remus said. "Best to relax and just accept it's just a story. Come, sit. Let's finish. We still have two more books," Remus said.

With great effort they had finished the sixth book the next day.

"Fucking Snape!," Remus said as he read Dumbledore's death at Snape's hand. He felt so disgusted with himself for believing he could ever trust Snape. What had Dumbledore been thinking?

"My cousin! You cheating bastard!" Sirius said, standing next to the bed pointing at Remus.

"I didn't! I… wouldn't. It's not possible!" Remus said. He didn't understand. How could he have fallen in love with Tonks? She was a girl and Sirius's cousin! And why would he get with her so soon after Sirius's dead? No, it made no sense.

And Dumbledore… his death stung. Dumbledore had given him chances when no one else would. And yet he couldn't mourn because it didn't feel real. None of it did.

* * *

><p>After the sixth book they put off the seventh and final book for several days. Sirius finally calmed down and stopped calling Remus a "cousin fucking werewolf." He supposed he didn't really deserve that. After all, he hadn't really done that. He was here with Sirius in an alternate universe, in Seattle in the year 2014.<p>

The final book had sat on a table in the hotel room like a dark omen. They avoided even looking at it. Who knew what manner of horrors JK Rowling would conjure up in it? But there had only been so long they could put it off. Two weeks after they had first arrived in Seattle Remus read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows aloud to Sirius.

They didn't sleep until it was done. They both had agreed to not react to the book until it was done. That had mostly worked out well. But Sirius did let out a whimper when Remus (and his cousin) died. And he couldn't stop himself from sobbing when Harry summoned ghostly versions of himself, Remus, James and Lily.

At last they reached the epilogue and Sirius felt his heart pounding in his chest as tears streamed down his face. Harry had lived! And he had a family! But… what the hell did he name the younger boy?

"Albus! _Severus_! Potter!" Sirius howled. "The bravest man I ever knew? What about me? What about you? He named his son after fucking Snivellus? Gah!"

Remus was scowling and he nodded.

"What? Snivellus wasn't a good man! He was a bully! Look at the way he treated Harry and his friends in these bloody fucking books!" Sirius shouted, standing up and pacing by the back window.

Remus remained silent. Whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.

"Argh! He wasn't brave! He was obsessed! He honored Lily by bullying her son! Just because he died a fucking martyr doesn't make him a good man!" Sirius shouted.

Remus sighed and finally spoke, "I think Snape was brave." Sirius was shocked. He stared at a Remus, mouth agape.

"And a bully," Remus clarified. "You're right. He wasn't a good man. But… I don't think we can question his bravery. Though I admit it does sting that Harry would name his son after Snape before he would name him after me."

Sirius groaned. Remus was right. Snape was brave… and a fucking dickhead. Sirius sat on the bed and nodded at Remus to finish reading.

When they were done they sat in silence for awhile. Remus looked thoughtful. Sirius felt numb. It was Remus who spoke first.

"I don't really understand the epilogue," Remus admitted.

"Hmm?" Sirius said.

"I mean… I am glad that things worked out well for Harry and I'm glad that my…" Remus stopped and shook his head then continued, "My son was well taken care of. But… well, I don't know. Even aside from Harry naming his son after Snape it sort of… seemed, a bit too cheery for my taste."

"Interesting. You see the tone of the chapter was the only thing I really liked. I guess after so much misery it was nice to see things work out so well," Sirius said.

"But it's not earned! We jump straight from the end of the war to nineteen years later and everything is sunshine and roses! I want to know more about what happened after the war. I want to see how it changed everyone. How did they all pick up the pieces?" Remus said. He didn't sound angry or annoyed. He sounded disappointed.

"And also: Why doesn't she mention the fact that Dumbledore is gay?" Remus said. Now he did sound angry and annoyed.

"I guess Harry didn't pick up on it," Sirius said.

Remus groaned.

"I didn't know about his history with Grindelwald but it's bloody obvious to me!" Remus said.


	4. Chapter 4 - Closing Time

_I swear it happened just like this:  
>a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss<br>the Gates of Love they budged an inch  
>I can't say much has happened since<br>CLOSING TIME_  
>"Closing Time" by Leonard Cohen<p>

Sirius had the idea to look up Pica Scribit first, though he had been unable to remember the name.

"Pickle… scribble?" Sirius said, sounding unsure and no doubt knowing he wasn't right at all.

"Pica Scribit," Remus said. "It's Latin. It means 'the magpie writes'."

"She said to Google her. How do you Google someone?" Sirius asked.

Remus smirked at Sirius. He thought he'd Googled Sirius pretty fucking well last night.

They decided to venture back out into Seattle. They had gone to Starbucks a few times since they'd been here. They had both noticed the resemblance one of the baristas had to a young Frenchman they'd know many years ago named Alexandre, only older now. It was eerie, Remus thought. Even eerier was his name: Alex.

In order to discover what Googling really was they asked Alex. It turned out it required something called a computer and something else called the internet. Eventually, Alex directed them to an Apple store where they marched in and bought a laptop, which apparently could be brought to Starbucks to connect to the internet.

While using the keys on the laptop was a simple enough matter, trying to understand how the hell to use the bloody thing was another. Luckily, Alex was there to help them. Neither Remus or Sirius had talked about Alex's resemblance to Alexandre but Remus could tell by the way Sirius looked at him that he could see the resemblance.

It had been a dark time in their lives, near the end of the first war. Remus had gone on a mission to France. It ended badly and Alexandre died. He then came back to Sirius who believed Remus had cheated on him with the young man. Even now, Remus wondered what could've happened differently. He supposed he would never know.

Finally, thanks to Alex, they figured out how to use Google. Remus typed in 'Pica Scribit' and quickly found her fanfiction on something called Archive of Our Own. Reading her writing was an altogether very different experience from reading JK Rowling's. In many ways her work felt even closer to their lives. And not just their lives… _their sex lives_. Merlin, she knew everything about them.

"Moony! She must be responsible! Look at this!" Sirius said pointing at the screen like an excited puppy.

"I know," Remus said. "It's uncanny."

Eventually, Alex pointed out that their hotel probably had something called Wifi and they might prefer to read the fanfiction there in private. And so in the privacy of their hotel room they once again read about their lives. Though… some of this stuff never happened. Remus sure as hell had never been Scottish. And while some of the details were close, much closer than JK Rowling ever got, they weren't always exactly right.

"This is really good," Sirius said. "The care she puts into us… it's beautiful." Remus glanced at Sirius and saw that his eyes were damp.

Remus and Sirius devoured Pica Scribit's work. It might've been an uncomfortable experience but reading the Harry Potter books had numbed them to that sort of strangeness.

"So other people do this? They all read the books then they write more stories?" Sirius asked.

"It seems so, Padfoot. Maybe out of a love for the original work and also a desire to create things they thought were missing. Certainly, Pica Scribit, rightly, believed our relationship was missing from the books," Remus said.

"We need to contact her," Sirius said. "I admit when we met her she seemed genuine! But maybe she can help us understand how we are here!"

"Does it matter?" Remus said.

"What do you mean, does it matter? Of course it matters, Moony!" Sirius said.

"Maybe this is just fate. Or maybe… maybe this is another story," Remus said.

Sirius looked stunned.

"Oh, come on, Padfoot. Surely, it must've occurred to you by now. We're stories. We don't exist outside of stories. Or maybe we do but… I think we're in a story. Seeing Alexandre at Starbucks… that was the moment when it solidified for me," Remus admitted then stood up off the bed, setting the laptop down.

"Someone put Alexandre there so we would know… it's a sign," Remus said.

"A sign of what, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"That this is their version of a happy ending for us," Remus said. Remus turned around and looked at Sirius and saw awareness dawning on his face.

"Pica Scribit?" Sirius asked, his voice quivering.

"No. It's not her style. We've read everything she's written about us. This isn't her. It's someone else. Merlin, knows who," Remus said.

Sirius fell back onto the bed, clutching his forehead.

"My head feels too full," Sirius said.

"Yes, it's a lot to take in," Remus said.

"What do we do? If this is our happy ending… what do we do?" Sirius said.

"Whatever we want, Padfoot. We've been given money, identities, and an understanding of our situation. The writer, whoever they are, even put us directly in the path to meet Pica Scribit which led us to the books so we could have closure, such as it is," Remus said.

Sirius looked up at the ceiling. Remus thought how beautiful he still looked after all these years. For a moment Remus felt like his heart would burst and he wanted to cry and hold Sirius forever and tell him a thousand times how much he loved him. For once he felt like it would be OK to let himself go. To let go of the restraint he'd been holding onto all these years. He wasn't sure he'd ever been so happy.

"We could travel," Sirius said.

"Yes."

"You could become a teacher!"

"Yes, that too."

"I could work at Starbucks!"

Remus shrugged then said, "If you like."

Sirius bounced off the bed then stood in front of Remus. He put a hand on his face then leaned in to kiss him, softly. He then held Remus tightly. In spite of himself, Remus began to sob. Shortly after, Sirius joined him.

Remus wasn't surprised when they began to tear off each other's clothing. He wasn't surprised when they tumbled onto the bed. And he wasn't surprised when they made love. For the first time in awhile they didn't just fuck; they made love. And after Remus came euphoria washed over him and held him in its grip much longer than it usually did.

Neither of them even said another word that night. They fell asleep holding each other and for the first night in a long time Remus slept a deep, dreamless sleep and in the morning he woke up with a great sense of well being and a possible bright future ahead of them.

They didn't talk about fanfiction, or fate, or the Harry Potter books at all that day. They roamed about Seattle and instead talked about the things they wanted to do. They both decided that they should go to school and learn about Muggles. After all, they were Muggles now for all intents and purposes.

It wasn't until dinner that night when Sirius finally brought up the subject of their new found destiny again.

"Moony… this is a good ending?" Sirius asked as he cut into his steak.

Remus pushed a piece of meat into his own mouth and considered this question while he chewed.

"I don't know. I'm okay with it. I suppose maybe it would've been better if we could be happy in our own universe. It doesn't seem that was ever in the cards for us though," Remus said.

Sirius nodded, seemingly in agreement.

"Do you suppose there are other happy endings we could be living? There's a lot of fanfiction out there," Sirius said.

"Yes, definitely. And no doubt there's universes were things went much worse," Remus said. He didn't say anything but he had snuck a glance at other fanfic and saw things that disturbed him. A great many people seemed to really want Harry and Snape to be together. The very thought made Remus want to vomit. He intended to keep Sirius from learning about that for as long as he could.

"Remember before… how you promised after the war we'd try to adopt," Sirius asked.

"Of course. I don't know about laws in this universe or country, not yet. But we'll look into it," Remus said with a sincere smile. He hadn't thought about it before now but his heart began to race at the thought of raising a child with Sirius.

"What happens when the story ends, Moony?" Sirius said, chewing and looking worried.

"I have no idea," Remus said.

"Will we stop existing? Will we go on?" Sirius said.

"I… I don't think we exist outside of the stories," Remus confessed. It was a heartbreaking admission but he needed to be honest.

"What if it just ends here? With us eating steak in this restaurant," Sirius said.

"Then that's where it ends," Remus said. "All life ends, Padfoot. We all die. Everything dies. Everything ends."

Sirius looked sad at hearing this but nodded in acknowledgment.

"Now, if you ask me it's better to end our existence having a good meal together then dying by getting blasted into a mysterious veil," Remus said gesturing at Sirius with his fork then continued, pointing the fork at himself, "Or getting killed in battle, leaving your son an orphan."

"You're right, I suppose," Sirius said.

"The writer could always continue our story later if they wanted. It looks like Pica Scribit does that. She seems to want to tell our whole lives, multiple times over," Remus said.

"That would be nice," Sirius said.

Remus smiled and shoved another piece of steak in his mouth. It was rare and absolutely delicious. Not a bad way to end at all.


End file.
